Equipment Missing At Iraqi Arms Site

[Attalus]

Here is the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2533847.stm

Monday, 2 December, 2002, 18:37 GMT
'Equipment missing' at Iraq arms site


This is thought to be the first ever inspection at Bakuba

United Nations weapons inspectors say equipment has gone missing from what was a missile site in Baghdad they inspected four years ago.
"In 1998, the site contained a number of pieces of equipment tagged by the United Nations Special Commission [UNSCOM] and several monitoring cameras," the statement issued by the inspectors said.

"None of these are currently present at the facility.

The monitors made the discovery during a surprise visit to a factory making guidance systems for missiles, on the fourth day of inspections in Iraq.

It was claimed that some [equipment] had been destroyed by the bombing of the site

Unscom inspectors

The inspectors said equipment, including monitoring cameras, installed at the al-Karama site in 1998 were not "currently present at the facility".

The disclosure marks the first setback for Iraq since the inspections resumed under a tough new UN mandate.

The inspectors said the Iraqis claimed some of the equipment had been destroyed in allied bombing raids, and some had been transferred to other sites.



The al-Karama site has in the past helped manufacture control systems for medium-range Scud ballistic missiles, which are banned under UN rules.

The BBC's Ben Brown in Baghdad says the surprise visit was one of the most dramatic incidents during the UN arms inspections, with the experts driving in at high speed through the gates of the base and preventing anyone from leaving or going in.

Three alcohol plants near Bakuba, just north of Baghdad, were also inspected on Monday.

The inspections took place as a dossier of human rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by the Iraqi regime, including torture and rape, was released by the UK Government.

US President George W Bush is due to give a major speech at the Pentagon on Monday, pressing Washington's case against Iraq.

Sprawling complex

The inspectors have come to Iraq after a four-year absence, operating under a new UN Security Council mandate that gives Iraq a "final opportunity" to shut down its alleged chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes or face "serious consequences".

They arrived on Monday morning at al-Karama, a sprawling complex guarded by watchtowers and hidden from view by high walls and barbed wire.

Click here to read about the inspections to date
The inspectors stayed for more than six hours, in one of the longest visits yet to a site since they began inspections last Thursday.

Staff at the factory told the BBC that it only made systems for permitted short-range missiles.

Before the inspectors released their statement, Iraqi officials said the visit had passed off without incident.

"All went well and the inspection was carried out without a hitch," site director General Mohammed Saleh Mohammed said.

"The inspectors were able to see for themselves that all the American and British allegations are a pack of lies."

A recent British Government dossier on Iraq claimed that Saddam Hussein had kept 20 Scuds with ranges of up to 650 kilometres (400 miles), which could threaten his neighbours and even British military bases in Cyprus.

UN resolutions forbid Iraq from having missiles with a range of more than 150km.

Extended range

The factory is previously known to have made guidance and control systems for so-called "stretch Scuds", Soviet-made missiles with extended range which were used in the Gulf war.

They surprised us with a visit today - they did not find anything because we are a company that produces alcoholic beverages

Bakuba plant manager

There are fears that Iraq may be able to arm its Scuds with chemical or biological warheads, though the missiles have never been deployed with such weapons.

A second team of inspectors spent slightly more than an hour at the three alcohol plants near Bakuba.

Inspectors also visited this area in the 1990s, but at least one of the plants is thought to have not been seen by previous teams.

"They surprised us with a visit today," Albert Moussa Younan, manager of one of the plants, told the Associated Press news agency.

"They did not find anything because we are a company that produces alcoholic beverages."

Read an article on thursday on Worldnetdaily.com concerning the qualifications of some of the inspectors. One of the leading inspectors (didn't remember his name), has no degree in any related field to arms inspections, his sole qualification as an inspector was that he is owner and founder of an S&M club here in Washington DC. When UN officials were asked about the inspectors, the journalists were told that the Inspectors were picked so as to not offend the Iraqi's. *sigh*